Money,Money,Money!!!!

[RLM]

Now that I have your attention,I have a question about money: Whats a good way for a 13 year old to dispurse money around WDW. She has worked and saved about a $1000.00 dollars.We want to give her sense of being responsible for her own spending. Soooooooo,does any one have a good idea,or know the in and outs of a kids credit card,or bank debit card. I thought of Travelers checks,but Iam not sure if she can sign off on those.I will be doing some checking with the banks around home,I am curious if anyone else has come across this situation,and what was your solution? Thanks in advance

 

[whois figment]

You can try cobalt which is a cah card by AMEX. You can get more info at the link below.


http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,5184,00.asp

 

[WDW2002]

All I have to say is WOW!!!!! you are going to let her spend $1000 at walt disney world? Why not allow her to charge on her room key, then pay them when you check out. That way she wouldn't have to carry around the money?

 

[juliebelle]

Disney dollars are fun to spend too, you could get a small amount of those for her. They money is really cute!

 

[whirlsy]

geez my 6 year old saved about 200.00 from this past year and im making her put half in her bank account, now you make me feel cheap. i would definetly let her charge to her room key and let her pay it off at the end of the trip with maybe a few bucks in her pocket, i know my thirteen year old niece would lose it in a heart beat but that is her, you know your child best and what you can trust her with. best of luck i wish i had a 1000.00 to spend at disney on myself tell her to have funnnnnnnnnn!

 

[Monica]

Cobalt card is currently being phased out by AMEX. They will be sending out checks for any balance left on the card within the next couple of months. I beleive Visa Buxx's is still around which is a kids card.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...............................................................NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Unless she is paying for rooms or meals, which I doubt! Disnee Dad is going to try to be extremely liberal here. Half for savings no if and or buts. 20% for Xmas gifts, or personal items from your local mall. Up to 10% for a local charity of her choice. The remaining 20+% can be spent at WDW. You talk about responsiblity, how about I need a car in three or four years, that is not given to me? MY 11yo DD, has saved $2000 toward a car she can't get for 5 or 6 years. Our deal is,if she will take one of our cars she gets it at half price. Kind of like a gift, but enough blood and sweat money that she will take care of it .

 

[tonya hall]

I think the visa buxx card is great. My teenager has had one for a while now. You can choos the bank you want it through. The limit you can have on it is $1000.00. The minimum you can put on it at one time is $20.00. You can invite family to put money on for birthdays etc. Mom can shut the spending down and keep up with where the money is spent. It's great. We love it. You can find out about it by going to WWW.VISABUXX.COM.:pinkbounc

 

[Toby'sFriend]

$1000? Wow!!!!!!

I would definately sit down with her before the trip and come up with some kind of plan on how the money should be spent. It is her money -- but that is an awful lot to be spending on trinkets at WDW. Perhaps a really nice watch or some clothes? I also like the charity and savings plans, but that is a personal family decision and for all we know - you've already done that!

Anyway - I'm not a real big fan of credit/debit cards for kids as I think they are a way to get the younger generations geared up toward using Visa to pay for everything. I would go with Travellers Checks myself.

 

[Pete's Mom]

My son saved $ 160.00 from loose change I gave him and all I can think of is how am I going to hall $ 160.00 worth of the Disney stuff he picks up back on the plane.

 

[mypriceline.com]

If he/she saved $1000 what I would do is tell them to take $500 and if there is an emergancy "you will lay it out" This way you save 50% for the future. Now if you stay five days have them divide the money in 5 days. And tell them again to spend $50, and save the other $50 and there is an.... If you try to overrule them on how to spend you will save the money for a day but teach them if they save money you will choose how they spend it. And that is a bad precedeent.

 

[shrpgrl]

My son has his own web certificate credit card. He puts his own money on it and then that is what he uses when on vacation. He also carries a little cash for pop and such, like $10 or so. We took him to the license branch and got him an I.D. card in case anyone asked for it. It worked very well for him and we did not worry about him losing it. He did not ask for any extra money either. The best part was he came back with most of his money still there.

 

[ceecee]

I go along with saving at LEAST half, that is still a lot to spend.....then use the room key to charge and let her pay it at the end. It's never too early to learn to spend (AND save) responsibly, so I'd encourage her to save as much as you can, she'll be glad she did.

 

[RLM]

I think we have decided to go with the Visa Buxx card. My DD has been saving for over a year,and she is very responsible in her spending habits. We have, and we will have conversations about the upcoming vacation,and how to have maximum fun with minimum out put $$$$,money wise that is. We are going to be in the Orlando area for two weeks,so it's not just WDW.

 

[We4mickey]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Our last trip our 16 year old brought $500.00 with him. Our 10 year old had also managed to save $250.00 mowing grandmas grass and birthdays, etc. They both took the money along, but were only allowed $30.00 at a time. We kept the rest. If they needed a few more $$ along the way we borrowed it to them. You would be amazed at how much they think about a purchase and how much money they will have left. Our kids both came home with over half of there money and felt they had gotten everything that they wanted.

 

[ellyn2000]

I'm with disneefamily/disney dad....that's an awful lot of money to "blow" on vacation when the hotel/meals/transportation/gratuities are provided. My children have had bank accts. since they were babies. My 13 year old has a checking acct. and I'm going to allow her to take her check book and $100.00 cash because she wants to do some outlet shopping. She has a state ID from the DMV because she went to a month long summer program at a state university last year and had to have one. This will come in handy with check writing. Youngest will have $100.00 cash from his bank acct. to spend on his own souveniers. We've always taught ours to save as much as possible and spend wisely. When our oldest bought his first new car he was able to finance for only 24 months because he had so much to pay down. He's in the Army and his buddies can't believe he can afford a new car with such a small payment. I'm proud that they'll be able to handle money responsibly and enjoy the pleasures of life when they're older. Discuss her options with her and explain the benefits of saving for another day. Eventually she'll be glad that she's got a little put back for another day.

 

[RLM]

for your concerns. I never said she was going to spend the whole $1000.00 dollars. I only gave that figure to validate her responsiblity right up front. Not too many 13 year olds can save that much money in little over a year. She worked hard,baby sitting,odd jobs,allowance,etc. I only asked for info. about a means to spend the money in a secure fashion (i.e. Visa Buxx.) Again those of you,who answered my question,thank you. Those of you who think you know best on what I should and should not do

 

[jfulcer]

If you go with the Buxx card (or whatever it is called) be sure to have her keep some out in cash (Disney Dollars?) to use at vendors that do not take cards. We were told that 'most all vendors' take the room charge cards and credit cards, but found it to not be true once in the parks - especially at little stands here and there.

I hope my 4 yr old DD is that responsible also when she grows up. Her savings right now is asking Daddy for his change at the end of the day and putting it in her bank.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Wow, it's great to hear that a 13-year old is so responsible. You should be so proud. Heck, maybe she'll buy YOU something!!!

Have a great time!!!

 

[jgates]

Our son opened a checking account with Mom on it at the bank I work at. We both have a debit card (MasterCard logo) on that account. Most local banks have "completely free" checking or something along those lines. Child will pay for ATM w/d's probably along with the surcharge from the machine. I like the peace of mind of being able to deal with the local bank (my own!) if the card is lost or stolen and we have to dispute something. Also-If you needed to put some $ in there quickly you can probably do it with a 2 min phone call transferring from your account. Also, with your name on there you can shut it down if there would be a reason to.